Latest Featured Hunting Articles


	Winter Scouting For the deer hunter, winter is a long period of nothing but waiting. The fall hunt is over and there is little activity related to hunting deer, plus it seems like the new season is such a long way off. Around here, winters are tough, so even the fun stuff like getting out and shooting the bow or going to the rifle range is out of reach. There is one thing winter is great for, and it is a way to stay connected to your favorite hobby. Winter is the best time to get out and scout to see what the deer have been doing at your hunting spots.
	The Whitetail Deer Hunter's Quiz Hunting over the years has become a competitive sport and hunters everywhere, young and old, new and seasoned - all vying for the best places to hunt. Many are trying to harvest that big whitetail buck to grace their wall. But as the season gets closer the competitiveness between some hunters can escalate to unhealthy levels. By the end of the season the rivalry and pecking order of the hunting camp has ended by who shot the largest bucks and the oldest does.
	The Laws of a Rifleman True riflemen strive to fully understand their weapon, their scope and their ammunition. True riflemen allow for enough practice utilizing multiple shooting positions to ensure that no matter what situation presents itself in the field, the shot can be made. Every rifleman has his own recipe for success, but they all start with a basic foundation - a set of laws if you will. Following are 5 laws that will help a hunter better understand and more effectively use his rifle, and will initiate the quest to becoming a rifleman.
	Are Coyotes Negatively Impacting Our Deer Herds? Let's face it, coyotes don't exactly have a great reputation amongst hunters. They've been blamed for everything from the decline of quail and rabbit populations, to lost livestock, and even the occasional missing neighborhood cat or dog. Of course, some of this reputation is deserved, and some of it is probably more lore than fact. Several recent studies, however, have shown that the boom in coyote populations over the last 30 years may be impacting more than just small game, livestock and pet numbers.
	Weather's Role in Hunting Weather conditions play a big role in where animals will be at a particular time of day. Sounds simple doesn't it? Weather conditions force wildlife to develop habit patterns to deal with existing weather. Deer seek relief from summer heat and winter cold that is outside their normal comfort range. During the extreme heat of summer animals take refuge in shaded areas to escape the heat. The animal still experiences heat, but at a lower temperature than if he was standing in direct sunlight. Ambient or prevailing conditions are measured in degrees of thermal heat.
	Equipping Kids for the Outdoors For my wife and me, introducing our kids to the outdoors has been an exercise in careful design. If you're passionate about hunting, and you want to share all that it has to offer with your children, then I'll bet you've considered the options. Not every hunting adventure is a positive one. Temperature, weather, and the mood of the game generally have some bearing on the outcome. While seasoned outdoorsmen and women learn to cherish every outing, it's the exhilarating successes that keep us coming back for more.
	Triple Sixes: Do-It-Yourself Colorado Hunt Six bulls, six bucks in six days, a successful Colorado do-it-yourself hunt on a budget! New York State residents, Dan and Janet Wescott, had been hunting together almost as long as they had been married. They had been on both guided hunts and do-it-yourself hunts and the results from the guided hunts were impressive and are mounted in their living room. The do-it-yourself hunts on public land turned out to be unimpressive and more times than not they returned home tired and empty handed. It wasn't from a lack of hunting skill.
	Deer Behavior During the Rut Big, mature whitetails don't get that way by being dumb. A true trophy deer has figured out where to bed, when to move and when things just "don't seem right." It's as if they develop a sixth sense. There is a brief window of opportunity, however, when his defenses go down and that big buck turns his attention to other matters. To an avid deer hunter, there is no more exciting time of year - it's the whitetail rut. There seems to be a lot of confusion amongst hunters - almost a mystique - about the rut. Maybe that's because so much has been written on the subject.
	Lessons Moose Have Taught Me In the first light of day and the last grayness of evening, there are imagined sounds which seem real and real sounds which might be imagined. And between the two is the muffled silence of the northwoods in autumn, sodden still from the pre-dawn drizzle and musty already with the change of the season. Somewhere in the distance drifted the faint song of high flying geese headed south. But my mind had registered another sound, the sharp snap of a twig behind the screen of alders that crowded the edge of the marsh.
	Hunting Preparations That Help Insure Post-Kill Success Typical hunters spend months in preparation for that moment when a coveted big game animal is in their sights. Many of these same hunters, however, give little thought to what they will need to do after they have killed a dream animal. That's unfortunate, because what happens after the kill can determine whether a hunt becomes a cherished lifetime memory or a recurring nightmare. The list of potential problems that can occur after an animal is down is nearly limitless.
	The Buck Stops at Double Ought The effectiveness of buckshot in hunting applications is a point of contention within the shooting community. Some swear by it; some swear at it. As with any big game hunting cartridge the effectiveness depends on three variables: energy, penetration and accuracy. Buckshot is designed for close range work... period. 12 gauge 00 buckshot is traditionally loaded in a high brass 2 ¾ inch shell with 9 spherical pellets each weighing about 54 grains. Buckshot is designed to allow the shooter to use the aiming mechanism of a shotgun while providing enough knockdown power to ethically dispatch deer sized game.
	South Dakota Deer Hunt: It's Now or Never As Joel Torrence was growing up on the family farm outside of Aberdeen, South Dakota, he was exposed to the hard work on the family's agricultural holdings and enjoyed the ample hunting opportunities the farmland provides. He began carrying a gun when 12 years old and spent his free time hunting the abundant rabbits and pheasants that lived along the farmland fringe. It wasn't long, however, before the exuberance of youth discovered scouting, which is usually a seasonal adult game, and it became an important part of his year round, daily agenda.
	Maximizing Your Hunting Time With Trail Cameras Over the last five years, probably no other "gadget" has changed the way we scout more than the trail camera. For many of us, running trail cameras is a hobby in itself, bringing a whole new excitement to our deer hunting efforts. Much more than just something to pass time, however, running trail cameras can give you a unique insight into the patterns of deer on your hunting properties and really tip the odds in your favor for harvesting a mature whitetail. Let's take a look at the features to look for when purchasing a trail camera, and how to get the maximum benefit from the camera once you have made your purchase.
	Beginners Guide to Videoing Your Hunts: Part 2 Having the best video equipment that money can buy won't result in great hunting footage, if you don't know how to properly use it. On the flip side, even low budget equipment can produce great footage in the hands of a knowledgeable videographer. In the last article, we covered the basic equipment needed to successfully video hunts, and how to best choose that video equipment based on your available budget. In this article, we will discuss some tips and techniques to get the most out of whatever equipment you have - regardless of whether it is a $6,000 professional HD camera, or one you picked up for $100 at the local flea market.
	Caribou Quest For those who enjoy hunting in truly wild places and pursuing game that can't be found in the lower 48, caribou hunting in Alaska is a must. With some careful planning and a lot of hard work, a self-guided Alaska caribou hunt at a reasonable price is available to anyone. For us the funds for a guided hunt just weren't there, and the truth is that even if cash wasn't an issue we'd still prefer to do it on our own. We decided we would plan our own unguided caribou hunt. It took a lot of time and we assumed a fair amount of risk, but we ultimately planned and executed a very successful self guided hunt - and so can any hunter willing to put in the work to make it happen.
	Beginners Guide to Videoing Your Hunts: Part 1 There was a time - and I'm talking not too long ago - when watching a hunting show on television required waking up early on a Saturday morning and tuning to a single cable channel. Today, you can just about find one on 24 hours a day! And if you can't find one on TV, you've probably got a few recorded on your DVR that you've only watched three or four times. Heck, there are now entire cable networks dedicated solely to hunting, fishing and the outdoor pursuits. All of this exposure has lead to an exploding interest in people videoing their own hunts.
	Colorado Mule Deer Hunt: You Must See Them First! Rifle, Colorado, has always produced big bucks from backcountry pockets; the tough part is getting them out of that pocket. When hunters come to town, the first question they ask locals is, "Where did Rifle get its name?" Although no one knows for sure, the consensus is the name originated with an old cowboy that had left his rifle leaning against a tree near a local creek. Once he realized the gun was missing he always referred to the area as "Rifle" and the name stuck.
	Horse Trails & Elk Tales Do-it-yourself horseback hunt for elk in the vast and remote Muskwa-Kechika wilderness in northern British Columbia. Pitching camps along the way, saddling and packing the horses, crossing rivers and mountain passes, bugling and calling elk, protecting the venison from marauding grizzlies, and then making our way back along uncertain trails back to civilization.
	Archery Elk Hunt: A Chase to the End Jesse Raddon grew up in a family with a long tradition of taking trophy animals that made the record books. Evidently, it was within his genetic makeup to continue the tradition and at just 18 years old there were few hunters twice his age that had experienced anywhere close to a similar number of hours in the field. Part of the legacy is due to family tradition; one member would hunt while the others guide, scout, and assist. Black powder and archery were the family weapons of choice and when hunting elk that meant they would be afield during the rut.
	Sweat the Small Stuff: Whitetail Hunting Primer-Part 3 This article was originally written without this 3rd installment. I got to thinking about it and thought perhaps another short installment on rifles, optics and sighting in might be helpful as well. I happen to be a certified gun nut. I admit to it and enjoy my interest in rifles to no end. Does a serious and successful deer hunter need to be a gun nut? Well, of course not! But I do think that perhaps some tips from a serious gun person could be a bit helpful, especially for those starting out.